Safety Order: Firefighter key switch

Persona

Technologies

This safety order is being issued pursuant to section 31 of the Safety Standards Act. A person affected by this safety order may appeal this order, in writing, to the Safety Standards Appeal Board in accordance with Section 51 of the Safety Standards Act. It is an offence under section 72 not to comply with a safety order.

Part 1: Details of Regulated Work or Regulated Product

This Safety Order is being issued to all owners of elevators equipped with any of the following feature:

Firefighters’ Emergency Operation; or

Any function intended to facilitate access by emergency personnel, including without limitation:

Emergency Recall; or

Special Emergency Service

(collectively “FEO Functions”)

that were constructed and installed in British Columbia prior to the adoption of the CSA B44-2007 Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators.

Recent changes to the Elevating Devices Safety Regulation adopted the most current version of the CSA B44-2007 Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators (the “Code”). The Code requires that the key switches required by sections 2.27.2 through 2.27.5 for all elevators in all buildings shall be operable by the same key. By this Safety Order, the aforementioned Code requirements are being extended to all elevators in BC which are equipped with FEO Functions.

For the purpose of this Safety Order upgrading of the key switches will not be considered as alteration that requires a submission but rather considered as replacement.

Part 2: Requirement(s) of this safety order

Building Owners and/or Property Managers with elevators equipped with FEO Functions and that were constructed and installed in British Columbia prior to the adoption of the CSA B44-2007 Code must ensure that all affected elevators comply with section 2.27.8 of the Code before December 31, 2016:

2.27.8 Switch Keys

The key switches required by 2.27.2 through 2.27.5 for all elevators in a building shall be operable by the same key. The keys shall be Group 3 Security (see 8.1). There shall be a key for each switch provided. These keys shall be kept on the premises in a location readily accessible to firefighters and emergency personnel, but not where they are available to the public. This key shall be of a tubular, 7 pin, style 137 construction and shall have a bitting code of 6143521. The key shall be coded “FEO-K1.” The possession of the “FEO-K1” key shall be limited to elevator personnel, emergency personnel, and elevator equipment manufacturers. Where provided, a lock box, including its lock and other components, shall conform to the requirements of UL 1037 (see Part 9).

By December 31, 2016, all Licensed Elevating Devices Contractors that maintain elevators with the type of equipment referred to in Part 1 of this safety order must notify the BCSA when the replacement are completed by submitting a spreadsheet for the applicable units under their portfolio ensuring the following information is provided:

BCSA Unit number

Building Name

Building Address

Date work was performed

Reason if work not performed

Confirmation that the system was tested and functioned as required after the required work is completed.

Part 4: Details of Ordering Safety Manager or Safety Officer

I certify that I am authorized to issue this safety order in accordance with section 15 (d) of the Safety Standards Act or that I have been delegated this power under section 15 (g) of the Safety Standards Act.

31 (1) To prevent, avoid or reduce risk of personal injury or damage to property, a provincial safety manager may, in writing, issue a safety order.(2) A safety order may be issued to any person in relation to any of the following:
(a) regulated work or regulated products generally;
(b) a specific class of regulated product or regulated work;
(c) a specific regulated product or regulated work.
(3) For certainty, a safety order issued under this section may apply to
(a) regulated work that meets the requirements under this Act,
(b) regulated work that previously met the requirements under this Act or a former Act but does not meet the current requirements under this Act,
(c) regulated products that meet the requirements under this Act, or
(d) regulated products that previously met the requirements under this Act or a former Act but do not meet the current requirements under this Act, including a regulated product that bears a certification mark.
(4) A safety order may specify any requirement that is intended to prevent, avoid or reduce the risk of personal injury or damage to property and may include any of the following orders:
(a) that an existing regulated work or regulated product must be made safe in compliance with the safety order;
(b) that a regulated product must be
(i) disconnected from a power source,
(ii) uninstalled, or
(iii) modified before continued use;
(c) that a regulated product must be operated, installed, manufactured or disposed of only as specified or that a regulated product must not be moved;
(d) that current or future regulated work or a regulated product must conform to the terms or conditions of the order;
(e) that a person take or refrain from taking any action that a safety manager considers necessary to prevent, avoid or reduce a risk of personal injury to persons or damage to property;
(f) that the manufacturer make reasonable efforts to recall the regulated product.
(5) The provincial safety manager must give written notice of the safety order to the following persons:
(a) the manufacturer of the regulated product;
(b) an owner of the regulated product if the identity of the owner is known to the provincial safety manager;
(c) the person in charge of the regulated work.
(6) The notice must state the reasons for the decision and that the person has the right to appeal the decision to the appeal board.
(7) Despite section 54, a safety order may not be stayed during an appeal.